208441: He did not fast because of sickness for which there is no hope of a cure, then he became able to fast

I have suffered from chronic kidney failure for years. I used to fast without any problems until Ramadan 1431 AH, when I began to feel exhausted halfway through, and my health declined after that and the kidney failure began to get much worse. So I did not fast Ramadan in 1432 and 1433, and I paid the fidyah for not fasting, based on a fatwa from a famous Islamic website after I explained my situation to them. Please note that I did not consult a doctor about that. In 1434 I fasted Ramadan, praise be to Allah, because I had a great desire to fast after I found out that fasting is the best for my condition and to cleanse the body of toxins, which is the opposite of what I had understood previously.
Do I now have to make up the fasts of the two Ramadans (in 1432 and 1433) that I did not fast, or not? Please note that I am still sick and my condition worsens day after day.

Praise be to Allah

Firstly, we ask Allah, may He be exalted, to
grant you good health and well-being. We advise you to be patient and seek
reward with Allah, may He be exalted, and to be certain that whatever
befalls you of trials only seems to be hard and difficult on the surface,
but in reality by Allah’s leave it is something good.

The one who goes through hardship is not,
before Allah, like one who is given well-being, and the one who is sick is
not like the one who is healthy, if the one who is sick seeks reward with
Allah and is patient, for all things happen by the decree of Allah, may He
be glorified and exalted.

Moreover, the fact that you did not fast
during those two years is something concerning which Allah has granted you a
concession, and there is no blame on you for that, in sha Allah. Allah, may
He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“but
if any of you is ill or on a journey, the same number (should be made up)
from other days. And as for those who can fast with difficulty, (e.g. an old
man, etc.), they have (a choice either to fast or) to feed a Miskeen (poor
person) (for every day)”

[al-Baqarah 2:184].

And it was narrated from ‘Ata’ that he heard
Ibn ‘Abbaas say: (This means) those who find it very hard to fast must give
a fidyah (ransom) of feeding a poor person (for every day). Ibn ‘Abbaas
said: This has not been abrogated; it refers to the old man and the old
woman who are not able to fast; for each day they must feed one poor person.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (4505).

The fuqaha’ discussed a case similar to what
you mentioned, which is that if a patient for whom it is thought that there
is no hope of recovery, or a very old person, does not fast, then in
subsequent years becomes able to fast because he has recovered or regained
good health and the like, will the fidyah that he paid for previous fasts be
acceptable, or must he make up the fasts? There are three views among the
scholars:

~1~

The first view is that he does not have to
make them up; rather the video is sufficient. This is the view of the
Shafa‘i madhhab.

Imam ar-Ramli (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:

Rather the person mentioned does not have to
make up the fasts, if he becomes able to fast later on, because fasting was
waived for him, and this requirement is not addressed to him, as is the more
correct view in al-Majmoo‘, that originally it was the fidyah that
was required of him as an alternative to fasting.

The author of al-Haashiyah commented on that
by saying:

He does not have to make up the fasts;
however he is still required to pay the fidyah.

End quote from Nihaayat al-Muhtaaj
(3/193)

Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (may Allah have mercy
on him) said:

If he becomes able to fast later on, he does
not have to make it up, as the majority said.

End quote from Tuhfat al-Muhtaaj
(3/440)

~2~

The second view is it is obligatory to make
it up. This is the view of the Hanafis and some of the Shaafa‘is.

It says in Radd al-Muhtaar ‘ala ad-Durr
al-Mukhtaar (2/427):

When he is able to fast, he must make it up,
i.e. the old man who did not fast and paid the fidyah instead. End quote.

~3~

The third view is that it depends. If he
recovers after having paid the fidyah, then he does not have to make it up.
But if he becomes able to fast, and he has not paid the fidyah for what he
missed in the past, then in this case he must fast. This is the view of the
Hanbalis, and was confirmed by al-Baghawi among the Shaafa‘is.

Al-Bahooti (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:

If he feeds the poor (as fidyah) then he
becomes able to make up the fasts… He is not obliged to make them up; rather
he has to feed the poor. This was stated in al-Mubdi‘. What this
means is that if he recovers before feeding poor persons, then he has to
make up the fasts.

End quote from Kashshaaf al-Qinaa‘
(2/310).

It says in al-Majmoo‘ by Imam
an-Nawawi (6/261):

Then al-Baghawi said: If he becomes able to
fast before paying the fidyah, then he must fast, but if he becomes able to
fast after paying it, then it may be that the matter is like Hajj, because
he was required to pay the fidyah on the basis that he thought that his
excuse would remain permanently, then it turned out differently. End quote.

The view that seems most likely to be
correct, in sha Allah, is the first view: that the fidyah is acceptable in
place of the fasts that he did not observe because of that excuse, whether
he paid it previously or has not yet paid it, and he does not have to make
up the fasts. That is because the option of paying the fidyah was required
of him at the time when he was suffering the chronic sickness, so he should
not move from that to another option. Moreover, obliging him to make up what
has passed would cause considerable hardship in some cases, and hardship
would dictate moving to an easier option.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on
him) was asked the following question:

There is a person who suffered from a
chronic illness and the doctors advised him never to fast, but then he was
treated doctors in another country and he recovered by Allah’s leave, i.e.,
five years later. Now five Ramadans have gone by during which he did not
fast, so what should he do after Allah has healed him – should he make them
up or not?

He replied:

If the doctors who advised him never to fast
were trustworthy Muslim doctors who have knowledge of this type of sickness,
and they told him that there was no hope of recovery for him, then he does
not have to make up the fasts and it is sufficient for him to feed the poor
instead, but he has to fast in the future.

To sum up: you do not have to make up the
fasts that you missed during the years 1432-1433, even if you did not
consult doctors at that time. It is well-known that kidney disease is a
chronic disease and that fasting for a kidney patient usually causes harm
and hardship. What matters is the experience of the patient himself. As for
asking a doctor, the fuqaha’ do not regard that as necessary; rather they
recommend the patient to consult a doctor as a precaution, lest fasting
cause him harm.

Whatever the case, we advise you to consult
doctors and ask them every time before fasting.